Book 2 - Text Updates 046

Antium (no longer did "Duke" seem to matter) stood in the blue light of Spacerock's portal, vexed. The room was filled with fresh Decrypted troops, mostly of a much lower level than he was. His Mistress and the Foolamancer stood nearby, talking. They seemed inclined to stay there.

He'd just participated in a disturbing tactical action. Although, he also admittedly found it a spiritually uplifting one.

He had given his best to stop the Titans' work. He was proud of that. Proud of having come so very close to croaking his Mistress, having served well in a cause he could now see was lost. It was Duty, either way. If the Titans could see his score, he was sure that it all would count in his favor. What else could a Nobleman possibly have done?

But of course, to oppose the Titans with all of one's might was to run up and kick a boulder with all of one's might. And this boulder had been rolling downhill at Jetstone for quite some time. From this side of re-creation, he had to wonder how they'd ever believed they could fight and win.

Because to fight for the Titans with all his might had been distressingly easy. Given his leadership and the Mistress' bonus upon the Decrypted, they had overwhelmed stacks of Jetstone infantry and lower-level Warlords throughout the dungeon area. But more than that, the fallen enemy swelled their forces upon Decryption, leaping back into battle and setting upon their former comrades instantly. It was a tactical cascade, an avalanche, a wildfire...

Or no. He had simply become the boulder. To push with it instead of against it was exhilarating. It had even come with the reward of being able to croak Duke Lacrosse.

"Cor, she's amazing isn't she?"

That would be the same Lacrosse who was elbowing his rib at the moment, and apparently ogling an Instrument of Titanic Fate other than the Arkenpliers. The Mistress had adjusted her raiment, stripping away damaged parts and most non-essentials. "Tell ya! We lost the war mainly because we didn't have anything like that on our side."

"We haven't-- Jetstone hasn't lost the war yet, Lacrosse," Antium said dourly. "We should be up at the tower seeing to that, I feel."

This he spoke too loudly, as Mistress Wanda snapped her head in his direction. "Be still. We're awaiting leadership," she said. Antium took it for the order it was. In fact the entire room fell silent. But he had to wonder: "awaiting leadership" from where, when it was not their turn?

"The battle is won," said the Mistress.

The Foolamancer raised an eyebrow and peered around. "Is it? That was unexpectedly dull."

She flicked a scowl at him. "The battle, in its most important sense, is won. These..." Here she held up the Arkenpliers. Antium felt a little rush of joy at the gesture. "...will survive, and so shall you and I. If nothing else, we can step through the portal right now."

"Ah," said the Foolamancer, with a little smirk. "And would you? I'm trying to imagine your reception on the other side. I don't think anyone there would exactly bake you a cake, though they might send some kind of party after you."

The Mistress looked down and smiled, ever so slightly. "I am simply saying that the option exists. I may have...strayed from Fate's path. At the moment, I can't quite see how." She squinted, as if trying to picture her misstep.

"Look harder," said the Foolamancer, leaning on his cane. "Can you see something blonde, perhaps in a top hat?"

The Mistress' reaction startled Antium, as she whipped her Arkentool to the floor as fast as any sword strike he had ever seen, and knocked the tip of the Foolamancer's cane away. The other caster stumbled forward, then turned it into a little dance step, and spun around with a flourish. He put out his arms theatrically and bowed with crossed feet.

"Tada. You and I should have worked up a dance routine around such moves, Lady. We'd have croaked them at the Court of Faq."

The Mistress seemed vaguely amused at the idea, and raised the 'pliers again. "We couldn't have. I didn't have these, then."

"Nor did you need them, to croak them at the Court of Faq," he said pointedly. "You must have danced divinely that day."

"I must have," she agreed, her voice betraying nothing. "That is the only way I know how."

For Antium, the full impact of what the Mistress had said began to sink in. Would she truly choose to abandon the fight? The city? He knew Jetstone's forces here were massive, and their leadership was impressive even without mighty Ossomer. But surely this city was a prize worthy of a fight. He frowned. Giving his Second Life up to cover the Mistress' escape was nothing he feared, but the loss of the glory would be a great pity.

As if reading Antium's mind, the Foolamancer gestured to the portal. "If we did leave the field, we would lose quite a lot here."

Mistress Wanda turned and looked directly at Antium. "Nothing that could not be replaced," she said. "But it was an academic point. We will not leave this room to fight, because it could serve as our means of escape." She turned her gaze to the portal. "But I have no intention of returning to the Magic Kingdom."

She walked up to Antium and spoke directly to him. He came to attention, not making eye contact. Her closeness gave him an uncomfortable elation, a tingle in his stomach. He thought he heard Lacrosse take in a sharp breath as she leaned forward. "I know the enemy forces here are strong. I know that they may counterattack at any moment. In truth, I have very little idea how to win this city. But Lord Parson will be here soon."

Antium had never heard the name "Lord Parson," but the Foolamancer now looked thoughtfully at the portal.

What's happening in the comic, however, is Jillian is actually in love with Ansom. Wanda's suggestion is preventing her from running home to him. The free-thinking Jillian, although still partially attracted to Wanda, does not truly want to be with Wanda - she wants Ansom. We know this because she a) Broke the Suggestion and b) Chose Ansom over Wanda when she was above Spacerock.

I cannot disagree with most of this in strong enough terms. Jillian came to WANDA first outside Spacerock, and only captured Ansom after Wanda turned her down. Jillian might have broken the Suggestion spell, but that had more to do with the METHOD than the feelings. I don't think there's a more or a less. I think she's truly torn between the two of them, and only through her actions has Wanda made the choice for her.

Smoker wrote:

Interesting. See to me, if Jillian wanted the suggestion, then it would be like Maggie jumping up from behind the sofa right now and Suggesting me to write something on the Forums. I would assume the spell would fail, or at least functionally so, because it made absolutely no difference to my actions. Therefore I would not break out of it, because I had no reason to do so.

I do understand that in the world there are people who do find the idea of mind-control erotic, and so I'm open to the idea of Jillian perhaps allowing the first suggestion to be placed on her, however the fact that she breaks out of it tells me that the way that Wanda used the Suggestion was beyond Jillians power to rationalise, and therefore consent to.

I dunno, its interesting isn't it? : "I hereby consent to you forcing/coercing me to do things that I do not consent to." where is the right and wrong of it?

Explain rape roleplay then. "I give you consent to force me to have sex with you. I will fight you and struggle and you will subdue me and force yourself upon me. And although I will fight and cry and do everything I can to stop you, and it will feel in most every way like an actual rape, I want it like that and I will enjoy the hell out of it." It happens, in safe, sane environments.

Jillian came to WANDA first outside Spacerock, and only captured Ansom after Wanda turned her down.

That is very true, however Ansom made it abundantly clear that he also was not interested in joining Jillian. Thats when she made a choice between the two. It might just have been that it was too dangerous to capture Wanda, or it might have been who she loved more, or it might have been a choice between two she loved equally and which one hadn't pushed her too far with suggestions.. food for thought.

Also, she spoke to Wanda first, because she couldn't get to Ansom until after Kingword was cast.

Housellama wrote:

Jillian might have broken the Suggestion spell, but that had more to do with the METHOD than the feelings. I don't think there's a more or a less. I think she's truly torn between the two of them, and only through her actions has Wanda made the choice for her.

I agree with the first part of that, no problem. Its clear that a Suggestion spell cannot make Jillian behave as she did without some foundation to build on. The second part, that Jillian loves them both equally, is an interesting theory.

Housellama wrote:

Explain rape roleplay then. "I give you consent to force me to have sex with you. I will fight you and struggle and you will subdue me and force yourself upon me. And although I will fight and cry and do everything I can to stop you, and it will feel in most every way like an actual rape, I want it like that and I will enjoy the hell out of it." It happens, in safe, sane environments.

Exactly as you said, it happens in a safe and sane environment. Wanda using suggestions to gain military knowledge from Jillian and then sending her back into the enemy ranks is not safe, and using magic to make it happen isn't exactly sane. I could handle Jillian saying "cast a suggestion on me then treat me like a whore" but would she say "cast a suggestion on me and use me to gain intelligence on your enemy who I also love (then treat me like a whore)" ? Personally I dont think she would.

So Wanda abused the boundaries of the relationship, and so (swingly wildly back to the point) does that impact on our judgement on Wanda being genuinely in love with Jillian? Maybe Wanda is wildly in love, but she's a just total asshole?

PS I love the way these discussions cascade from a theory about Wanda having a crush on Jack, to rape fantasies.

She might have willfully given up this choice [to select between Ansom and Wanda, I think] by allowing herself to be mind controlled. The fact that she broke out of it was an unfortunate mishap that perhaps the Jillian of the past wished to have avoided. So does someone who willingly gives up their free will have the right to change their minds again? If so, what responsibility is it of the Dominator to ensure that this change of mind has not occured?

Are you suggesting (no pun intended) that Jillian wanted Wanda to pull out a scroll and cast a mind control spell on her? Wanda's words seem to indicate that this is an extreme to which their BDSM play has not gone before, when she asks about the easy way or the hard way, and then inflicts "the very hard way." The easy way and the hard way would seem to be the standard play options. I agree with ryanroyce, the very hard way which included the domination scroll seemed like a singular departure, to me.

Smoker wrote:

Housellama wrote:

Hell, their romantic relationship appears to be based on D/s. A suggestion spell would be one of the ultimate ways to express that. It doesn't have to be sinister. It could be something to just make the sex hotter that Wanda chose to exploit...

Interesting. See to me, if Jillian wanted the suggestion, then it would be like Maggie jumping up from behind the sofa right now and Suggesting me to write something on the Forums. I would assume the spell would fail, or at least functionally so, because it made absolutely no difference to my actions. Therefore I would not break out of it, because I had no reason to do so.

There is an interesting scene in a Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser tale where Fafhrd is escaping from his frozen northlands barbarian life. He's just met with his lover and engaged in a bit of play, and afterwards scrubbed up barbarian style by hopping into a snow bank to "shower." Meanwhile, the spell being cast by his mother(? it's been a while since I've read this tale) and her coven of witches to freeze his manhood fails, since he was inflicting the same effect as their spell was supposed to inflict. But aside from reminding me of that story, I hardly believe that Jillian wanted, or even knew, that Wanda could or would cast the domination spell on her. When they met again on the ramparts of GK, Jillian herself told Wanda that she had crossed the line. Right before Wanda unleashed the tower defenses, but failed to kill Jillian with them. Wanda seems to be far more enthralled by Jillian than Jillian is by Wanda. Spells notwithstanding.

This is more along the lines of what I was thinking. Wanda does love Jillian, but her side DOES have its back to the wall and are about to be utterly crushed. If a person has their back to the wall and believe they have no other choices, they WILL bite the hand that feeds them. And that's not even considering the effects of Duty and Loyalty, something that has yet to come up during this conversation. Love is one thing, but certain things are hard coded into Erfworlders. And the higher up you go, the greater effect they have.